Redfern police rebuilding relationships

Police officers are well aware of the terrible things that can happen in the line of duty, but it's sometimes the things that don't happen that end up haunting them the most.

For NSW police inspector Dave Roptell, there are two incidents from his 22 years in the force that have stayed with him.
The time he feared he was in danger of being shot, and the time he could have accidentally shot someone.

In 1998 in Lakemba, Inspector Roptell was looking for a mentally ill man who reportedly had a gun.

As Inspector Roptell was walking up a stairwell, the man pointed something at him, prompting him to reach for his sidearm.

"Seeing him point this object at me, I went to grab the revolver, and my offsider says 'No, it's a mobile phone'," he told ninemsn.

"For days afterwards you're thinking, 'What if he didn't say that?'

"You're playing in your mind what could have happened."

Two years later in Bankstown, Inspector Roptell had to systematically search through a block of flats for a suspected murderer, believing the man was still armed.

He eventually arrested the suspect at gunpoint after finding him hiding in the back of a garage.

"It's in the back of your mind, you're thinking 'What if, what if?'"

"It's a great challenge because your life is put at risk."

After stints in Sydney's south-western and eastern suburbs, Inspector Roptell has been working at inner-city Redfern Police Station for the past two and a half years.

It's been nearly eight years since the death of Aboriginal teenager Thomas "TJ" Hickey prompted the devastating riots that sprung out of Redfern's troubled housing development The Block.

Thomas died after flying off his bike and being impaled on a fence while being followed by police in Redfern.

Police were accused of chasing the teenager, but the officers involved were cleared of any wrongdoing.

The incident damaged the relationship between local police and the indigenous community, and at the time it seemed irreparable.

But even in the years Inspector Roptell has been at Redfern, the relationship between police and the community has improved markedly.

Under the direction of Commander Superintendent Luke Freudenstein, police have worked with Aboriginal leaders to coordinate activities aimed at improving relations.

Among the most popular is a boxing training program for local teens.

"Since then, being out and actually speaking to members of the community, it just comes back to us that they really have a trust in the police," Inspector Roptell said.

"People that might at one time might have been on the wrong side of the law; they feel like they'll get a fair go."